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24 July 2007 : Column 1007W—continued


HM Revenue and Customs: Great Yarmouth

Mr. Anthony Wright: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer how many HM Revenue and Customs staff employed in Havenbridge House Great Yarmouth (a) are female and (b) work flexitime. [151964]

Jane Kennedy: As at 1 July 2007, 145 HM Revenue and Customs staff were employed in Havenbridge House, Great Yarmouth, of whom 97 were female.

Flexitime is not a contractual right for any HMRC staff, but most staff are able to work flexibly within their contracted hours provided this does not conflict with local business need.

HM Revenue and Customs: Manpower

Mr. Anthony Wright: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer how many staff HM Revenue and Customs employs; and how many more posts are planned to be lost to meet the targets set in the Gershon Review. [151955]

Jane Kennedy: As at 1 July 2007 HMRC employed 86,948 full-time equivalent staff and had reduced its workforce by 12,132 posts since 1 April 2004. This leaves a balance of 368 full-time equivalent posts to achieve the Department's efficiency target of a net reduction of 12,500 posts by 31 March 2008.

Mr. Anthony Wright: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer how HM Revenue and Customs staff are encouraged to respond to consultations arising from the Gershon Review. [151956]

Jane Kennedy: HM Revenue and Customs is undertaking a major restructuring programme to enable it to meet the staffing reduction targets arising from the Gershon Review, and other PSA efficiency and customer service targets.

All staff have been encouraged to take part in consultation exercises both on business and accommodation restructuring proposals.


24 July 2007 : Column 1008W

Housing

Alistair Burt: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer how many domestic properties in England have greenhouses according to Valuation Office Agency records. [151319]

Jane Kennedy: I refer the hon. Member to the answer given on 19 June 2007, Official Repor t, 1667W.

Housing: Prices

Andrew George: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what proportion the average national income was of the average house price in (a) Cornwall and (b) England at the most recent date for which figures are available. [152106]

Angela Eagle: The Annual Survey of Hours and Earnings reports that average male full-time earnings in 2006 were £32,744. Data from the Land Registry shows that in 2006 Q3 the mean house price in England was £214,471, and in Cornwall £217,776. Therefore the proportion of average national income to average house prices in Cornwall and England are 6.7 and 6.5 respectively.

Income Tax: Tax Rates and Bands

Mr. Gauke: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer if he will estimate the net difference in income tax revenue collected since 1997 if the top rate of income tax had been uprated in line with earnings. [152028]

Jane Kennedy [holding answer 23 July 2007]: The estimated costs of uprating the threshold at which taxpayers start paying income tax at the higher rate in line with earnings from 1998-99 are in the table.

£ million
Cost

1998-99

40

1999-2000

340

2000-01

890

2001-02

1,020

2002-03

1,600

2003-04

1,830

2004-05

2,200

2005-06

2,470

2006-07

2,920

2007-08

3,240


These are based on the Survey of Personal Incomes, of which 2004-05 is the latest available. Estimates for later years are based on projections in line with Budget 2007 assumptions.

Infectious Diseases: Death

Mr. Waterson: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer how many deaths where the death certificate refers to healthcare-acquired infections there were in (a) hospital and (b) care homes in (i) Eastbourne and (ii) East Sussex in each of the last 10 years. [151498]


24 July 2007 : Column 1009W

Angela Eagle: The information requested falls within the responsibility of the National Statistician, who has been asked to reply.

Letter from Colin Mowl, dated 24 July 2007:

Number of death certificates where (a) Meticillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus( 1) and (b) Clostridium difficile( 2) was mentioned, in residents of East Sussex( 3) , 1996-2005( 4,5)
(a) MRSA (b) Clostridium difficile

1996

(6)

(5)n/a

1997

(6)

(5)n/a

1998

9

(5)n/a

1999

10

23

2000

14

(5)n/a

2001

10

10

2002

15

17

2003

18

37

2004

14

19

2005

24

36

(1) Identified using the methodology described in Griffiths C, Lamagni TL, Crowcroft NS, Duckworth G and Rooney C (2004). Trends in MRSA in England and Wales: analysis of morbidity and mortality data for 1993-2002. Health Statistics Quarterly 21, 15-22.
(2) Identified using the methodology described in Office for National Statistics: Report: Deaths involving Clostridium difficile: England and Wales, 2001-2005. Health Statistics Quarterly 33, 71-75.
(3) Figures are provided for usual residents of the current county of East Sussex. Deaths of residents of Brighton and Hove unitary authority are therefore excluded.
(4) Data are for deaths occurring in each calendar year
(5) Deaths involving Clostridium difficile can only be identified using the Tenth Revision of the International Classification of Diseases (ICD-10). This has been used by ONS for coding mortality from 2001 onwards and in 1999 for a bridge coding study. Data are therefore not available for 1996-1998 and 2000 when the Ninth Revision of the ICD was in use.
(6) Where less than five deaths, numbers have been suppressed in line with ONS guidelines on disclosure and confidentiality.

24 July 2007 : Column 1010W

Local Government Finance Funding Changes Independent Inquiry

Alistair Burt: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer (1) whether representatives of his Department made any written submission or representation to the Lyons Inquiry on local government; [151324]

(2) whether (a) HM Revenue and Customs and (b) the Valuation Office Agency made any written submission or representation to the Lyons Inquiry on local government. [151327]

Angela Eagle: No submissions or representations were made on behalf of HMRC, VOA or HM Treasury. The inquiry published written submissions as part of its final report, archived at

Married People: Separation

Mr. Laws: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer how many married couples have separated but are still married; and if he will make a statement. [151192]

Angela Eagle: The information requested falls within the responsibility of the National Statistician, who has been asked to reply.

Letter from Colin Mowl, dated 24 July 2007:

Pensions

Martin Horwood: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer if he will assess the potential impact of extending the possibility of exchanging private pension rights for a cash sum of a value greater than 25 per cent. of the total to situations where the total of that person's pension rights is greater than one per cent. of the Lifetime Allowance; and if he will make a statement. [151332]

Kitty Ussher: The tax rules provide that where a member's total pension benefit rights in registered pension schemes do not exceed one per cent of the lifetime allowance then the member may commute some or all those benefits in return for receiving a taxable lump sum between age 60 and age 75. This process is known as “trivial commutation”.

At PBR 2006 the Government announced that HMRC would discuss with interested parties the concerns raised regarding the administration costs of paying trivial
24 July 2007 : Column 1011W
commutation lump sums under these rules. The Government will explore the way in which the current rules impact across a range of interests, bearing in mind both the potential impact on individual pensioners, pension savers, and pension providers and the way the rules fit with the Government’s wider objectives in encouraging pension saving to produce an income stream in retirement.

Personal Income: York

Hugh Bayley: To ask the Chancellor of the Exchequer what the average wage for (a) full-time and (b) part-time (i) male and (ii) female employees is; and what the average household income for working age households was in City of York council area in (A) cash and (B) real terms in 2006. [151612]

Angela Eagle: The information requested falls within the responsibility of the National Statistician, who has been asked to reply.

Letter from Karen Dunnell, dated 24 July 2007:

Gross weekly pay for employee jobs( a) by place of work : 2006—City of York Unitary Authority
£
Full-time employees Full-time male Full-time female Part-time employees Part-time male Part-time female

Median

455

*491

*391

*134

(b)x

*145

Mean

529

*578

444

*167

**148

*174

(a) Employees on adult rates whose pay for the survey pay-period was not affected by absence.
(b) Figure not published for reasons of quality.
Guide to quality:
The Coefficient of Variation (CV) indicates the duality of a figure, the smaller the CV value the higher the quality.
The true value is likely to lie within +/- twice the CV—for example, for an average of £200 with a CV of 5 per cent. (10), we would expect the population average to be within the range £180 to £220.
Key:
CV <= 5 per cent.
* CV> 5 per cent. and <= 10 per cent.
** CV> 10 per cent. and<=20 per cent.
x CV>20 per cent.
Source:
Annual Survey of Hours and Earnings, Office for National Statistics.

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